This week Jon Cruddas MP was one of over 100 MPs that co-signed a letter to the Prime Minister urging action on the ‘unscrupulous contract changes’ announced by Sainsbury’s in March. The changes being proposed would see some employees receive a welcome pay rise, whilst 10 per cent of staff would suffer a staggering loss in wages of up to £3,000 per year.

This week is Dementia Action Week 2018 (21st-27th of May). There are currently 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK. Approximately 1 in 14 people over the age of 65 are living with dementia and approximately 40,000 are living with young-onset dementia (onset before the age of 65).

Janis Cottee a star volunteer of Jon Cruddas MP and committed dementia campaigner, recently attended an All-Party Parliamentary Group on Dementia meeting. Attending as a carer, Janis participated in conversations around dementia and disability.

Jon Cruddas, MP for Dagenham and Rainham, has praised new powers for TfL to crack down on illegal taxi and private hire activity and enhance passenger safety. These new powers are part of the Mayor of London’s Taxi and Private Hire Action Plan, which will drive up standards, boost the quality of service for Londoners and will help deliver the greenest taxi fleet in the world.

In March Jon Cruddas MP co-signed a letter to Jake Berry MP, Minister for the Northern Powerhouse and Local Growth pushing for a consultation on the effectiveness of enforcement against unauthorised encampments. The consultation had been promised by Ministers in 2017 but not delivered.

The government have now launched a 10 week public consultation which started on 5 April and ends on 15 June. The consultation seeks to understand more about the issues around the effectiveness of existing powers to remove unauthorised encampments.

In April the Mayor of London held an emergency summit on violent crime, calling on people from across the political spectrum as well as the Police Commissioner to discuss ways that we can tackle violent crime, particularly youth crime.

This week Sadiq Khan has launched the Young Londoners Fund which has been created to support a range of education, sport, cultural and other activities for children aged 10 to 21 in response to rising violent crime in the capital.

Late May bank holiday will see the demolition and replacement of the western side of Ardleigh Green Bridge in Hornchurch. Demolition works will take place from 21:00 on Friday 25th of May 2018 until 05:00 on Tuesday 29th of May. Delivery of the new bridge will take place overnight on Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd of June between 21:00 and 08:00 the following morning.

The rollout of Universal Credit is currently affecting the claimant count. Changes in claimant numbers may be a result of the rollout rather than changes in economic conditions.

The total number of unemployed claimants in Dagenham and Rainham constituency in April 2018 was 1,680. This represents a rate of 3.3% of the economically active population aged 16-64. The equivalent UK claimant rate was 2.9%. The UK unemployment rate, which includes people not claiming benefits and is estimated from survey data, was 4.2% between January and March 2018.

This week is Mental Health Awareness Week and the theme for 2018 is ‘stress’. A recent survey carried out by YouGov on behalf of the Mental Health Foundation, found that almost three quarters (74%) of people have at some point felt so stressed that they felt overwhelmed or unable to cope.

Jon Cruddas MP for Dagenham and Rainham has thrown his support behind a number of mental health awareness campaigns over the last few years including; Time to Talk, Movember and many more.

There are over 45,000 new cases of prostate cancer every year in the UK. Just over 11,000 of those cases result in fatality. The ‘March for Men’ was established by Prostate Cancer UK to raise awareness and funds for crucial research. The charity are investing heavily in research that'll change the game for men, meaning better diagnosis, better treatment and better prospects after treatment.

Jon Cruddas MP is encouraging local residents to get involved with the fundraising by registering and taking part in the annual ‘March for Men’ event in June. Full details are as follows: